1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a vehicle lamp for controlling a lighting operation of a light source unit including an infrared light semiconductor light source emitting infrared light and a white light semiconductor light source emitting white light.
2. Related Art
A known vehicle lamp includes an infrared light LED (Light Emitting Diode) as an infrared light semiconductor light source for emitting infrared light, a white light LED as a white light semiconductor light source for emitting white light, a current supply unit for supplying a light source driving current to each of the infrared light LED and the white light LED, and a control unit for controlling the light source driving current (see, e.g., JP-A-2004-273180).
Since the infrared light emitted from the infrared light LED has a wavelength longer than that of visible light, scattering hardly occurs in the infrared light. For this reason, for example, the infrared light is used in a night monitor for photographing an object at night.
On the other hand, the infrared light LED emits red light which can cause glare for the driver of an oncoming vehicle or a vehicle traveling in front of the vehicle with the infrared light LED. Accordingly, the vehicle lamp is provided with a white light LED, which improves safety of a vehicle in a traveling mode by eliminating red light so as to prevent glare.
Nevertheless, since the existing vehicle lamp has a configuration in which the infrared light LED is continuously driven so as to emit red light even when the white light LED is abnormal, the safety of the vehicle in the traveling mode can become degraded.